HOSPITALS WITH THE MOST “ETHICAL” BILLING, ACCORDING TO LEAPFROG: Rush University Medical Center, University of Chicago Medical Center and other local hospitals are among those that have compiled a list of U. S. providers. The U. S. government has the highest moral billing practices.
The list, published through Leapfrog Group and Money. com, was compiled from billing insights submitted to Leapfrog this year. Ethical billing criteria were explained as offering patients itemized statements or itemized master invoices within 30 days of final adjudication of claims, and giving the patient orders to touch a billing branch to investigate any errors or negotiations.
Other criteria are hospitals that refrain from taking legal action against patients for overdue or inadequate bills and offer specific negotiated insurance costs or monetary costs for non-unusual services.
“Billing practices have an effect on how patients interact with the physical health system,” Missy Danforth, vice president of physical health testing at Leapfrog Group, said in an interview with Crain’s. between patients and their doctors and may cause patients to delay or forgo mandatory physical care. “
Of the 565 hospitals and 10 surgical centers on this year’s list, 18 are from Illinois and six are in Chicago. In addition to Rush and UChicago, other Chicago hospitals on the list include Ascension Resurrection, Ascension Saint Mary-Chicago, Humboldt Park Health, and Loretto Hospital.
CHICAGO AND COOK COUNTY RETURN TO MEDIUM RISK OF COVID-19: The threat of COVID transmission for Chicago and Cook County returned to medium threat this week, as cases and hospitalizations have increased in recent weeks, city fitness officials said today.
Switching to medium risk, a measure through the Centers for Disease Control
As of Nov. 10, there were 113 new COVID cases shown in line with another 100,000 people last week in Cook County and 10. 3 new hospital admissions in the same population and time accordingly, according to the CDC. Cook County, adding Chicago, wants fewer than 10 hospitalizations to be low-risk.
Although cases are surging, the Chicago Department of Public Health knows that less than one Chicago resident is dying each day from COVID. READ MORE.
CDC says omicron affects babies harder than previous variants: The rate of hospitalization of babies for COVID was highest when Omicron was the main variant in the county, but signs of the most severe illness in infants did not increase, the Centers for Disease Control reported.
In general, infants younger than six months are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination and have higher hospitalization rates than other pediatric age groups.
The CDC recommends that pregnant women keep up with COVID-19 vaccination to help themselves and babies who are too young to be vaccinated.
During the major consistent periods omicron BA. 2/BA. 5 between December 19, 2021 and August 31, 2022, weekly hospitalizations consistent with 100,000 infants under six months of age decreased from 2. 2 in the week ending April 9, 2022 to a peak of 26. 0 in the week ending July 23, 2022, according to the study.
EXPERTS IGNORE OAK STREET’S QUARTERLY LOSS: Oak Street Health reported last week that it posted a loss of $130. 4 million in the third quarter. But the mavens said other measures are more indicative of the company’s overall health.
“Things move so fast on Oak Street; the trend rarely drives that much conversion,” said Sandy Draper, senior executive director of Guggenheim Partners, a global investment and advisory firm. “I feel like you have to compare this company on an annual basis. “
Draper said an individual community can’t validate the Oak Street model, but it can invalidate it. Instead of focusing on quarterly results, Draper looks at how temporarily the company is loading more physical centers, which turns out to be a developing priority.
The company’s profit was $545. 7 million, up 40% year-over-year and increased year-end earnings guidance. READ MORE.
EMERGENCY ROOM VISITS FOR SUICIDAL YOUTH INCREASE IN FALL 2019: Researchers from Lurie Children’s and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine report that in the fall of 2019, Illinois emergency departments are experiencing an increase in visits by children ages 5 to 19 with suicidal thoughts.
While there was another spike in 2020 when the pandemic began, the authors note that knowledge of Illinois shows a pre-COVID crisis and is representative of a national population.
The exam published in the journal Pediatrics.
“Many other people talked about the intellectual fitness challenges among young people from the pandemic, but that was diminishing before the pandemic,” corresponding writer Dr. Anna S. Simpson said in a statement. Audrey Brewer, pediatric instructor at Feinberg and pediatrician at Lurie Children’s. statement. ” It’s been a challenge for so long, and it’s getting worse. “
Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people and teens in the United States and more than forty-five percent between 1999 and 2020, when more than 47,000 teens aged 10 to 19 died, according to the statement.
Using data from 205 Illinois hospitals, the study team analyzed emergency room visits that involved suicidal thoughts (thinking about avoiding harming yourself or yourself, but not necessarily having tried to) and hospital remains resulting from those emergency room visits.
While the data used in this study doesn’t shed light on why suicidal ideation has increased in recent years, lead writer Joe Feinglass, a professor of medical studies at Feinberg, speculated that it might just be a mix of school-related stress. , social isolation, adding heavy exposure to social media, developing climate change depression, political discord and gun violence, and family circle adversity, forgetfulness or abuse,
“It’s like smoke,” Feinglass said of the study’s results. “And there is a fire, but we don’t know yet and we’re not yet addressing the cause of the fire. “
UCHICAGO USES SUPERSATURATED OXYGEN TO TREAT “WIDOWMAKER” HEART EXPECTATIONS: The Medical University of Chicago is the first medical center in Illinois to offer a new remedy to patients with previous giant central attacks affecting the front of the center, the fitness formula said. in one sentence.
Known as “widow makers,” those types of primary center attacks have the highest death rates. However, supersaturated oxygen therapy (SSO2), now provided by UChicago Medicine, has been shown to reduce muscle pain in patients with attacks at the center after catheter-based success. procedure, according to the statement. SS02 is the first and only FDA-approved remedy known to decrease this muscle pain, according to the release.
“Although the interventional technique for treating central seizures has often been subtle over the past few decades, long-term diagnosis of patients with significant attacks beyond the center has not advanced proportionately,” said Dr. Sandeep Nathan, associate professor of medicine. the co-director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and director of the UChicago Heart Intensive Care Unit said in the statement. “We are excited to lead the way in Illinois with what appears to be a very promising new remedy for some of the maximally at-risk patients. We see in the cardiac catheterization lab. “
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION DECISION COULD CURTAIL DIVERSITY EFFORTS FOR DECADES: Medical schools and fitness systems await hearing from the U. S. Supreme Court. The U. S. Department of Health is overturning affirmative action, a precedent that dates back to 1978, reports Crain’s sister publication, Modern Healthcare.
The legal issue that arises is whether public or private establishments that get federal investment can use race as an element in determining whether applicants are qualified to register. Lawsuits against admissions practices at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University have been ongoing since 2014.
Higher education and fitness care leaders are thinking about how to maintain progress on diversity, a key detail in addressing fitness disparities, and putting new hiring strategies in place. Some worry that a legal change could set them back decades.
In a separate report to the Supreme Court, the American Medical Association, AAMC and other professional teams wrote that allowing the number of black and Latino doctors to decline would be negative for patient care, especially for others in underserved communities where those providers practice. .
Amid broader challenges, health care organizations have relied on higher education establishments to send them more professionals of color. For example, CommonSpirit Health of Chicago introduced a $100 million, 10-year recruitment initiative with Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta to develop the diversity of its doctors. In addition, the National Football League is partnering with the country’s 4 traditionally black medical schools to increase the number of blacks in sports medicine.
A PROMISE OF FREE INSULIN FROM LILLY AMID TWITTER’S FAKE HURDLES: Twitter has been dealing with imposter accounts since the company allowed paid fans to get verified blue checkmarks early last week.
An account posing as the pharmaceutical Eli Lilly
Later in the week, Twitter suspended the $8 subscription program it introduced earlier this week to combat the surge of users posing as big brands, a user familiar with the decision said. READ MORE.
IDHS OBSERVATION ON ‘CODE OF SILENCE’ AT MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY: A new report from the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Office of Inspector General found a “widespread cover-up” among several Choate Mental Health employees.
The report says the attempted cover-up indicates a deep-seated “code of silence” among some staff members and that the entire facility was negligent.
The watchdog comes after a series of articles from Capitol News Illinois, Lee Enterprises Midwest and ProPublica revealing a culture of patient abuse and cover-up at the state facility in rural southern Illinois, ProPublica ed.
The series of stories highlights the beating of patient Blaine Reichard in December 2014 and the OIG report found that many of the same disorders occurred, but that blaming only those involved, the watchdog said collusion among many staff members meant Choate himself was negligent. ProPública reported.
The facility, the IGO said, will have to be held accountable for “not saving the status quo of a culture in which so many workers chose to protect their colleagues rather than protect an abused user and felt comfortable doing so. “
SILVER CROSS FOR INNATE TERRAIN AT ORLAND PARK SITE: Silver Cross Hospital and Premier Suburban Medical Group will today perform a long-term ribbon-cutting rite of all of their medical construction in Orland Park.
The two-story, 42,000-square-foot medical construction is expected to open in early 2024.
The facility will feature number one and specialty care physicians, comprehensive imaging services, an 18-station infusion center, an endoscopy room with two procedure rooms and after-hours care.
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
• Joe Flanagan joins Distributed Ventures, a venture capital company in healthcare, insurance and fintech, as an expansion spouse in the Chicago office.
Flanagan created JP Flanagan Corporation, which would become one of Chicago’s largest insurance agencies with national offices before promoting it to Hub International, according to Distributed Ventures. While serving as an expansion partner, Joe will also continue in his role as president of the acquirer.
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